What price would you be willing to pay for success?

[Kel Varnsen]

I posted this question before and shoxlax also touched on it in another thread as well. I would be interested to hear what this board thinks, especially as the WSU athletic department is staring down the barrel of a tough financial situation as it is.

I would be interested to know where this board stands, as I am not completely sure, but I would lean towards avoiding national obscurity w/r/t Men's Basketball and other sports as well. If it meant we had to be knocked down a peg (the equivalent of C-USA), would having the moral high ground be worth it? Is it worth it to not play by the rules since very few successful programs seem to be doing so?

Regardless, it's an interesting debate and I think one worth having at this point. Would love to hear the thoughts of this board.

REMINDER: This is independent of the "well if we had or didn't have IB/GM/CJ/whoever" discussion. I am sick of that at this point.

[rjl]

What do you mean by "bending NIL rules?"

[Kel Varnsen]

What do you mean by "bending NIL rules?"

Basically, Koch Industries paying players $100k for playing at WSU. Something like that.

[dregn]

I took bending the NIL rules as basically the unwritten portion of the contract is the money is tied to their participation at the school. My understanding is any contact is use of the NIL of the athlete independent of who they play for. I'm still waiting for someone to get smart and after committing to a big school and signing a big NIL deal to then decommit and try the process all over again. Would be interesting to see how many deals someone could with the temptation of getting a big name player.

[Stickboy46]

I actually don't even know if it's considered "bending" the rules on NIL at this point. The rules are vague and unenforceable really. The NCAA is toothless. They can't request any info of a private company to know whether rules were broke or not. Nor would they even try at this point due to public sentiment. NIL is basically pay to play... Just as long as it doesn't come from the university directly.

[BostonWu]

NCAA is a joke. Nothing immoral about not following their jurisdiction. They're already close to extinction. The problem is whether WSU can remain competitive in a no holds barred arms race. Uncle Charlie has given no indication he'd invest in those endeavors.

[60Shock]

I voted Not Bending the Rules.

Because most likely it would be a GIVEN, we would get caught. And you can bet the punishment would not be a slap on the wrist, but they would throw the entire book at us.

[shock]

Marshall had success and ran a clean program. There is enough room in NIL to placate most athletes without bending any rules.

[Horn28Clem30]

I voted #3 - I'll take winning at any costs.

[SB Shock]

I selected other. No need to bend any rules, with NIL anything is possible now without bending any rules. You just need somebody with deep pockets. Maybe get RICH ENERGY to sponsor your program. They have a excellent record in formula 1 ;)

[Singeril]

If you have to "cheat" or "bend the rules", I want no part of it. If a team did that I wouldn't be spending a dime on any of the athletic programs...or on the university.

[ShoxRoxMySox]

Purist basketball fans will hate this opinion, but times are changing and players are going to get paid within the fly by the seat of your pants NIL guidelines. Koch is a massive and wealthy company, and the name is already on the arena. If it's within the "rules" of NIL for Koch to somehow reward/pay our players $100k a year to be here representing WSU, doing promotions or commercials -- maybe even flashing a small Koch patch on the jersey -- I'm all for it. Hell, I'll block traffic while they back in the armored truck.

We would be foolish, IMO, to blatantly ignore what seems to be legal within NIL, IF it supports an advantage to WSU basketball, athletics in general, the university, and the city.

[BostonWu]

Purist basketball fans will hate this opinion, but times are changing and players are going to get paid within the fly by the seat of your pants NIL guidelines. Koch is a massive and wealthy company, and the name is already on the arena. If it's within the "rules" of NIL for Koch to somehow reward/pay our players $100k a year to be here representing WSU, doing promotions or commercials -- maybe even flashing a small Koch patch on the jersey -- I'm all for it. Hell, I'll block traffic while they back in the armored truck.

We would be foolish, IMO, to blatantly ignore what seems to be legal within NIL, IF it supports an advantage to WSU basketball, athletics in general, the university, and the city.

You're assuming the namesake is interested in any of that.

[ShoxRoxMySox]

Purist basketball fans will hate this opinion, but times are changing and players are going to get paid within the fly by the seat of your pants NIL guidelines. Koch is a massive and wealthy company, and the name is already on the arena. If it's within the "rules" of NIL for Koch to somehow reward/pay our players $100k a year to be here representing WSU, doing promotions or commercials -- maybe even flashing a small Koch patch on the jersey -- I'm all for it. Hell, I'll block traffic while they back in the armored truck.

We would be foolish, IMO, to blatantly ignore what seems to be legal within NIL, IF it supports an advantage to WSU basketball, athletics in general, the university, and the city.

No, I don't assume that, I was just going with the previously mentioned example for simplicity. Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me if the company matches the name on the Arena, or court, or anything.

Edit: messed up the quote, was responding to BostonWu.

[Maizerunner08]

In this new era, If you don’t “bend the rules” you better have the reincarnation of John Wooden because players follow the money or will transfer if they feel “above” the program.